


because the night

by Anonymous



Category: Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: Brother/Brother Incest, M/M, Sibling Incest, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Viking-typical morals, hair combing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 23:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Only by night.
Relationships: Torgrim/Atli (Vinland Saga)
Kudos: 2
Collections: Anonymous





	because the night

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 日本語 available: [だから夜はー](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831167) by Anonymous 

It's the closest thing to married life they allow themselves. Kisses are infrequent, given to a shoulder or the back of the neck; Atli gets too quivery when he's taken face to face and Torgrim feels it's his duty as the elder brother to enforce some standards. But they are, in some way only the gods might understand, joined as one, in a bond no woman could hope to match. So by nights they comb each other's hair, their sweat and breath mingling in the tent they share as husband and wife's must in the marriage bed. He knows his brother's scent as well as his own as Atli lies with his head in his lap, Torgrim taking the time needed to comb out his bushier hair.

He worries sometimes that Atli might take too well to the soft life of village existence, resting his head in a lap ready to birth his children and kissing his wife by day as well as night. Torgrim's certainly not going to let that happen while there's breath in his body. But he worries.

He can't see the look on Atli's face when they do this; they're careful about their silhouettes in the tent, so this happens after the torches have been put out and the only light is the moon and the embers of the fire. There's just a certain tenderness in the set of his brother's head and neck, the same man who's guarded his back in every battle they've lived through, that makes Torgrim tug a bit harder with the comb as if to remind him what they are, as if to ward off the charge he's turned his brother soft after all, taking him from behind like a woman for half their lives.

"Don't pull so damned hard," Atli says in the darkness. "Haven't you learned how to work a comb by now?"

"Just thinking."

"Thinking." A snort. "What have we got to think about?"

"Nothing." He feels for Atli's hand, lifts it and presses his mouth to it (the back, just the back). "Nothing at all."

He only feels this way by night, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> noticed that even before the Thorkell incident, Atli is the one who gets more aggressive with Willibald while Torgrim gets startled and a little cowed when Willibald is in his face, so him actually being the mentally weaker one even if Atli is more capable of guilt is.... <•><•>


End file.
